Expandable post binder



Nov. 29, 1960 F. s. SCHADE EXPANDABLE POST BINDER Filed Feb. 5, 1958INVENTOR. :E'rnnk 51111112 Schnde BY Ciapim & 77ml ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent EXPANDABLE POST BINDER Filed Feb. 5, 1958, Set. No.713,452

2 Claims. (Cl. 129-13) This invention relates to improvements in looseleaf binders of the expandable post binder type and particularly to anexpandable binder for loose leaf sheets having a multiplicity of smallsize perforations along the marginal binding edge.

This invention meets the need for an improved expandable binder forloose leaf sheets of the type used for processing in electronicaccounting machines. Form sheets of the type designed for such machinesare extensively used by banks and countless other businessestablishments and industrial accounting departments. Such forms have aseries of small diameter holes or perforations along the binding marginof the paper so that a business machine can properly lead ortrack theforms through the machine. Loose leaf binder constructions of the usualtype have not been satisfactory for this type of form sheet primarilybecause of the small diameter of perforations. One such binder in wideuse has sheet-engaging pins or posts of sufiiciently small diameter tofit the holes in the sheets but when made of sufii cient length to holda fair sized pack of forms the posts (a U 1C6 2,962,027

securely clamping a few sheets or a large sheet pack without sacrificingthe neatness and compactness of a small capacity binder and thesturdiness needed for a large capacity binder.

Another object of the invention is to provide a relatively low costbinder construction which is easy to assemble and in which additionalsegment means can readily be inserted. The fact that the post bars areof identical construction reduces construction costs and alsofacilitates assembly, since any bar may be used to start the binder orto add additional segments thereto.

Further detailed objects and advantages will be apparent from thefollowing description and the invention clearly defined and pointed outin the appended claims.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is clearly illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a binder assembly with portions of thesheet pack and lower cover cut away to show the relationship of parts;Fig. 2 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale showing a pair of postbar units as seen in the assembly of Fig. 1 and illustrating the mannerin which post bar segments are stacked together;

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of one of the post locking clamps of Fig. 1and of a key to release the same; and

Fig. 4 is adetail perspective view illustrating a corner of a binderassembly in which the elements are arranged are spindly and thin. Thusthe posts are subject to bending in use. And when in use with a smallsize sheet pack the extreme length of the posts protruding from thecovers makes an unattractive and relatively unserviceable unit. Not onlyis this prior type of assembly difficult to handle for removal oraddition of sheets in the pack but even when filled to capacity thebinder itself is un-' .wieldy.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an improved postbinder or loose sheet holder construction adapted to hold a small packof sheets in a neat and attractive arrangement and to permit theaddition of sheeets or sheet packs as necessary, by providing sectionalmeans for expanding the capacity of the binder; Thus the binder assemblymay be used for afew sheets or a relatively thick sheet pack. Thenumber-of sheets to be contained in the binder may vary from one or twoto the number in a sheet pack having a thickness on the order of 7inches.

A further object is to provide a loose leaf binder adapted to firmlyclamp a sheet pack made up of one or more distinct segments ofsubstantially uniform thickness and bound together in a neat and securefashion. Thus the removal or addition of single sheets in the centralportions of the entire pack will be greatly facilitated.

A still further object of the invention is to provide I a binderconstruction kit to include a pair of cover 'members, a plurality ofseparable and interchangeable post bar units, and various sizes ofadjustable clamping members, and in which the post bar units are ofidentical construction, so that with these basic elements the user caneasily make a small, neat and attractive post binder for such forms inwhich a few sheets may first be bound and to which sheets can be addedas needed .until an extremely large capacity binder pack is built up formore or less permanent storage.

expansion in the new binder makes it adaptable for The provision for toclamp a few sheets or a relatively thin pack between the binder coversas when the binder is first put to use. Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1shows a binder in which a sheet pack 4 is made up of three segmentsindicated at 40 and enclosed between upper and lower covers It) and 12respectively, the covers preferably being of stiif plastic, compositionleather, cardboard or similar material. Each cover is provided with ahinge crease 11 to enable the covers to swing easily from adjacent thestrip portion 13 forming a cover binding margin.

The sheet segments 40 are stacked one on top of the other and each isengaged in the assembly being sup.- ported therein by means of anelongated flat bar 14 formed with two upstanding relatively shortsheet-engaging posts or spindles 16 (Fig. 2) extending therefrom. Eachbar also has two small diameter spindle or post- 'receiving holes as theopenings 18, these openings being in adjacent spaced relationship nextto the spindles 16 (Figs. 1 and 2). Each bar is further provided with apost lock or clamp-receiving aperture as at each end, of larger diameterthan the holes 18, the post bars 14 being of a length to position theapertures 20 of each in alignment beyond the end edges of the sheets. i

Each of the openings 18 in a bar 14 is correspondingly located relativeto its adjacent post 16 at the same side thereof longitudinally of thebar. In other words at one end of a bar the opening 18 is outwardly ofits adjacent post 16, while at the other end the opening 18 is inwardlyof its adjacent post. Further, the opening 18 at one end of the bar andthe post 16 at the opposite end thereof are each equally spaced fromtheir respective bar ends. Also the spacing between each post and itsadjacent opening 18 is the same and corresponds to the spacing betweenadjacent perforations of the sheets to be bound. It will be seen thatthe openings 18 of one bar will thus be in vertical alignment with theposts 16 -of another bar when successively stacked bars aresuperirnposed and in reversed end to end relationship to each other. Inaddition to the sheet holding post bar units, the binder assemblyincludes a cover bar as an elongated clamping plate 32 (Fig. 1) havingan aperture 20 at each end. The plate 32 is of the same length as bars14 and the diameter of holes 20' and position" thereof corresponds tothat of the holes 20 of bars 14. Plate- 3 Patented Nov. 29, 1960.

is also provided with two pairs of small post-receiving holes oropenings 34 of the same diameter as openings 18 of bar 14. The openings34 are located in the same relative position on the plate as the postsand adjacent openings of the bars. Thus the openings of the cover platemay be registered with the posts of an underlying uppermost bar 14. Itwill further be noted that the marginal binding strip portions 13 of thecovers are provided with pairs of openings (not shown) registering withthe openings 34 to receive the posts of the lowermost and the uppermostpost bar units. The covers are thus interchangeable.

It should also be noted that with a marginal portion 13 of a relativelystiff character the cover plate 32 may be dispensed with, the portion 13thus serving as a top overlying clamping member in the same fashion asthe plate, as will be described.

An adjustable locking or clamping means for the binder is shown by Fig.3 as a well known type of expandable post lock. The tubular member 22 ofthe post lock is flanged at the bottom and fits as indicated by Fig. 1up through the end aperture of the lowermost post bar and the registeredopening of cover 12 and through the vertically spaced aligned openings20 of one or more post bars. The headed post or peg 26 with spring ears30 rearwardly angled at its tip is passed through aperture 20 of thecover plate 32, through the cover margin 13 and is telescopicallyinserted into the tube member. The ears 30 will press outwardly againstopposite sides of the inner wall of tube 22 and will easily slideforwardly into the tube but will securely lock the peg againstwithdrawal as will be readily understood. Thus the covers andintervening pack segments may be clamped together. Post locks are ateach end of the binder and located outwardly of the sheet edges. Tounlock the clamping posts, a key 36 may be inserted in the open end oftube 22 to compress cars 30 by the forked prongs 37. The peg may thusslide rearwardly and out of the tube member 22.

Fig. 4 shows the manner in which the parts may be arranged to hold athin pack comprising a few sheets only, as might be the case wheninitially using the binder. The spindles of a bar 14 are registered withthe small holes of cover member 12, and the appropriate registeredopenings of sheets 40, cover 12, and cover plate 32. The locking postpeg of Fig. 3 is in this arrangement first inserted through the alignedapertures 20 of these members, and the tube 22 is then telescopicallyfitted over the peg with its flanged end 23 foremost and so as to pressdirectly against the plate 32. The covers and sheets are thus heldtogether in a compact manner and the post members being of a relativelysmall size will not protrude above the top cover to an objectionableextent.

In assembling a binder as shown by Fig. 4 or 1 it is noted that eithercover has two pairs of spaced openings so that the relative positioningof the pins or posts 16 of the bar 14 makes no difference. As will beappreciated from Figs. 1 and 2 a pack of sheets of any desired thicknessless than the capacity of posts 16' may be threaded on the posts withthe edges of the sheets lying inwardly of the apertures 20 of the bar.If a binder pack being made up is of somewhat less thickness than thecapacity of the posts 16 the top cover and plate are registered on theposts and the clamping means arranged as in Fig. 4. If the pack is ofgreater thickness, the first bar is loaded with sheets until only thetip ends of post 16 are exposed (see Fig. 2) and a second post bar 14 isthen stacked on top of the first by reversing the end to endrelationship of the posts and capturing the exposed tip ends of theunderlying posts in the openings 18 of the second bar. The resultingstaggered relationship of two or more successively stacked post barunits will be appreciated from Fig. 1. Additional sheets can thus belocated on the spindles of each succeeding uppermost bar 14 untilanother segment of the pack is built up.

cover and cover plate 32 may, of course, be

assembled with the end clamping posts for any given pack thickness byproviding different sizes. Preferably the spindles or posts 16 are onthe order of one inch in height in the actual embodiment of theinvention as shown by the drawings. In the assembly of Fig. 4 the tube22 may also be one inch high for the smallest size of clamping unit.With its peg 26 this unit will thus serve for a sheet pack of from oneto one and one half inches in thickness. For larger sizes of bindersheet packs, more or less standard sizes of locking posts can be usedfor packs ranging from one and one half to two and one half; from twoand one half to four; and from four to seven inches in thickness.

In Fig. 1 three segments are shown and the locking tube 22 will indicateprovision for an expansion to a four inch pack. It will further be seenthat the paired openings 34 of the cover plate 32 and underlying coverstrip 13 will receive the tips of post 16 of an uppermost bar 14 ineither of the alternative positions, such positions, as will beappreciated, being dependent on the relative position assumed at theoutset by the first bar and the number of segments required for anyparticular size of sheet pack. It will also be realized that postclamping or locking means of any other suitable type could be used toextend through the aligned openings at the ends of the covers and barsfor securing the same together.

It will also be seen particularly from Figs. 1 and 2 that the temporaryremoval of a single sheet or sheets from the central portions of a largebinder sheet pack will be greatly facilitated. If such is desirable forany reason the user need only remove the clamping posts and expose thetop of the segment 40 in which the particular sheets are positioned.Then only the overlying sheets need to be removed from the binding posts16 and later replaced when those desired are separated.

What is claimed is:

1. A loose leaf binder assembly for securing sheets used in bookkeepingrecord machines and having a series of closely spaced machine trackingperforations along a marginal binding portion thereof into one or moresheet pack segments in said binder, said assembly adapted for expansionfrom a relatively small to a relatively large binder capacity andcomprising in combination a plurality of identical elongated stackingbars each having relatively short sheet-engaging spindle posts extendingfrom one side thereof, spaced from opposite ends of the bar and ofsufiiciently small diameter to pass through the perforations of saidsheets, said bars being of suflicient length such that the ends thereofextend beyond the upper and lower edges of said sheets, a spindle postreceiving opening adjacent each spindle post and spaced therefrom toregister with other perforations of said sheets, each said opening beingpositioned to the same side of its adjacent post, the post adjacent oneend of the bar and the opening adjacent the other end of the bar beingequidistant from the opposite ends of the bar, whereby the openings ofone bar register with and receive the posts of the next underlying barwhen in superposed stacked position and in reverse end-to-end relationthereto, clamp receiving openings through the portions of said barswhich extend beyond the upper and lower edges of said sheets, andelongated clamp members of sufiicient length to be disposed in the clampreceiving openings of a plurality of stacking bars and engaged with eachof the bars when in assembled condition with sheet segments disposedtherebetween, said clamp members being of sufiicient rigidity to holdsaid bars in fixed relation.

2. A loose leaf binder assembly as set forth in clairn 1 including acover bar overlying the binder margin of the uppermost of said sheetsand engaging the upstanding posts of the underlying bar, said cover barbeing of the same length as said bars and including clamp receivingopenings at each end registrable with the clamp receiving openings ofsaid bars, and openings through said cover 5 6 bar registrable invertical alignment with both the posts 1,131,648 Ahearn Mar. 16, 1915and adjacent openings of the underlying bar. 1,817,930 Phillips Aug. 11,1931 1,841,894 Impey Jan. 19, 1932 References Cited in the file of thispatent 1,958,852 Hamill May 15, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 FOREIGNPATENTS 583,335 Rosenthal May 25, 1897 375,056 Italy Sept. 20, 1939

